Categories

Liquor Stores

Alcohol retail duopoly and housebrands

The supermarket titans, Coles (owned by Wesfarmers) and Woolworths, are heavily investing in the acquisition of independent liquor stores and chains, and between them currently control 60 per cent of alcohol retail in Australia up from 32 per cent in 2004.

To further increase profits, Woolworths and Coles import liquor under misleading names and load up their stores with these difficult to spot 'house brands', often undercutting the well known brands. To get a slice of Australia's $7 billion beer industry, both companies have introduced their own house brand beer.

Buy from independently owned bottle shops/pubs.

Choose local, independent Australian-owned brands

For a list of wines made by Coles and Woolworths under their private labels see Who makes my wine? [Who makes my wine?]